TxDOT Mission
Work with others to provide safe and reliable transportation solutions for Texas.
TxDOT Goals
- Maintain a safe system
- Address congestion
- Connect Texas communities
- Best in class state agency
TxDOT Values
- Trust
- Integrity
- Responsibility
- Excellence
- Service
In this issue
- July 4 Holiday DWI Crackdown
- Moseley Joins Transportation Commission
- Transportation Commission Actions
- Commission's July Meeting Set for Corpus Christi
- Roads for Texas Energy
- TxDOT Podcast: TxDOT Executive Director Phil Wilson, Task Force on Texas' Energy Sector Roadway Needs
- Drive Texas: Real-Time Travel Information
- I-35W Fort Worth Hearing Draws Crowd
- Austin District Engineer Lopez to Retire
- Drive Clean Across Texas Sweepstakes
- Ride Smart. Ride Sober.
Unsubscribe
|
You can manage your subscription to TxDOT Update here.
|
Contact Us
|
125 East 11th St.
Austin, TX 78701
(800) 558-9368
|
Follow Us
|
July 2, 2012
Here's our roundup of Texas Department of Transportation news and events. If you have any questions, comments or just want to know more about something you read here, send a message to AskTxDOT@txdot.gov.
July 4 Holiday DWI Crackdown
 |
| Sean Carter is the newest face of TxDOT’s anti-DWI campaign. The Dallas native and former model was severely injured in 2005 at age 22 as a passenger in a drunk-driving crash. |
The Fourth of July will be a no-refusal holiday, with statewide law enforcement cracking down on suspected drunk drivers. Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement agencies across the state will seek warrants to draw blood from any driver suspected of drinking who refuses to submit to a breathalyzer test. The crackdown is designed to reduce tragedies on what has repeatedly ranked as the nation's deadliest holiday of the year for alcohol-related crashes.
To highlight the importance on its anti-DWI effort, TxDOT recently unveiled an updated Faces of Drunk Driving website with a new story that illustrates the human impact of drunk driving. The latest campaign features Sean Carter, who was a passenger in a truck driven by a drunk driver and suffered a traumatic brain injury when the truck crashed. He now uses a wheelchair and communicates through a computer.
Back to top 
Moseley Joins Transportation Commission
 |
| Jeff Moseley |
Houston business leader Jeff Moseley is the newest member of the Texas Transportation Commission. Gov. Rick Perry last week appointed Moseley for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2017. Moseley is self-employed and a consultant for Opportunity Houston. He is also former president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, past executive director of the Economic Development and Tourism Department for the Office of the Governor and a former Denton County Judge. Moseley succeeds Ned Holmes, who had served on the commission since 2007 and whose term expired last year.
Back to top
Transportation Commission Actions
The Texas Transportation Commission convened June 28 for its regular monthly meeting and took the following actions:
Read more »
Back to top
Commission's July Meeting Set for Corpus Christi
The Texas Transportation Commission will conduct its July meeting in Corpus Christi, continuing a long tradition of taking the state's business on the road to make it easier for Texans to participate in transportation decision-making. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m., Thursday, July 26, at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center, 402 Harbor Drive and is open to the public. The Commission is expected to meet in Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area later in the year.
Back to top
Roads for Texas Energy
Increased energy exploration and production are vital to the vibrancy of the state's economy, but a recent surge in activity has significantly impacted our state's highways. Earlier this year, TxDOT formed the Task Force on Texas' Energy Sector Roadway Needs to develop long-term funding strategies and plans to address infrastructure concerns well into the future. The task force meets at 2 p.m. today in Cleburne at the Cleburne Conference Center, 1501 West Henderson Street. An open house will follow at 4 p.m. This is the task force's first meeting outside of Austin, and more meetings around the state are planned.
Learn more »
Back to top
The weekly TxDOT Podcast keeps you updated on the latest transportation news and issues, and new episodes are published every Friday on the TxDOT website, www.txdot.gov.
In this week’s episode, we talk with TxDOT Executive Director Phil Wilson about the Task Force on Texas’ Energy Sector Roadway Needs and its mission. Episodes are also available on iTunes.
Listen to Podcast »
Back to top
Drive Texas: Real-Time Travel Information
TxDOT recently launched Drive Texas™ , a new online map application that provides travelers with real-time traffic conditions, traffic and weather feeds about the 80,000 miles of road maintained by the state, as well as links to other useful travel information. Travelers can plot a course by entering their start and end cities to view highway conditions along their route, and they can also locate TxDOT safety rest areas or Texas travel information centers. In select cities, travelers can also view images from traffic cameras, messages posted on dynamic message signs and other detailed information. The site also has a mobile-friendly component.
(Warning: Do not use this app while driving.)
Back to top
I-35W Fort Worth Hearing Draws Crowd
 |
| A proposal would expand I-35W from I-30 to I-820 in the Fort Worth area. |
More than 300 citizens and elected officials attended a recent I-35W public hearing in Fort Worth. The proposed project would reconstruct and widen the interstate from I-30 to I-820. The corridor is being environmentally cleared for the ultimate configuration, which would include up to eight main lanes plus four managed toll lanes.
View a visualization of the project »
Back to top
Austin District Engineer Lopez to Retire
 |
| Carlos Lopez |
TxDOT Austin District Engineer Carlos Lopez has announced his retirement, effective July 31. Lopez began his 33-year career with the agency in 1979 as a summer intern in the Laredo Area Office while earning his bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He began full time in 1982 as a field engineer in the Design Division. He went on to serve as a special projects engineer, deputy director and director of the Traffic Operations Division. He was named Austin District Engineer in 2009.
Back to top
Drive Clean Across Texas Sweepstakes
Don't miss your chance to win a brand-new Ford Fusion Hybrid. Enter the Drive Clean Across Texas online sweepstakes today! The deadline for entering is Sept. 23. The statewide public outreach and education campaign encourages motorists to make cost-saving, no-cost and low-cost changes in their driving and vehicle maintenance behaviors to reduce harmful vehicle emissions — a major contributor to air pollution. The low-emission 2012 Fusion Hybird is being donated by the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Texas drivers ages 18 and up can enter.
To enter the sweepstakes »
Back to top
Ride Smart. Ride Sober.
 |
| Texas biker Jim Beavers appears in the "Sober Bikers Ride Longer" video. He has ridden 300,000- to 400,000-miles since 1974. |
We know bikers ride to live, and we want everyone to live to ride tomorrow. A TxDOT public education effort "Sober Bikers Ride Longer" is part of
the department's "Ride Smart. Ride Sober." safety awareness campaign. The video features several Texas bikers boasting about their extreme mileage totals
over the years. Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing of Austin produced the video for TxDOT.
Back to top
All inquiries may be directed to AskTxDOT@txdot.gov.
|
